Expression
by Somethinsgottagive
Summary: Thirteen years after the school was shut down by the government, Max and the gang finally settle down...or so it seems. But what happens when they find out about a secret organization that hires people to become mutants? Along with personal demons, there's likely to be trouble... Nudge/Gazzy, Angel/Fem!OC
1. Chapter 1

The only book out of the Maximum Ride series that I followed while writing this was The Angel Experiment and bits of Schools Out Forever. This story takes place in an alternate universe where The School was shut down by the United States government and Max and the gang relocated and begin to live with their bio parents. This didn't work out for Iggy, Angel or Gazzy, who all live with Mrs. Martinez due to parental neglect or abuse. Fang's bio mother is deceased, so he also joined the household with Max and the gang. Nudge lives in an apartment with her biological mother, Tasha, but still visits frequently.

Also, just a warning- this story has crude language, mildy sexual situations, somewhat out of character characters and is unedited (OHNO!)

P.S. Yes, this story contains a lesbian pairing. In fact, it will be mentioned kind of a lot. If you don't like that, please don't be a jerk about it. Just don't read this.

If you're okay with all of that...Read on!

* * *

It had been eight years, eleven months, and 29 days since the last time Max saw Angel smile- and yes, _she counted._

On Angel's tenth birthday both she and her brother discovered that their mother had sold them to The School. It was something Max and Fang had known, but agreed to keep between the two of them for the sake of the youngsters. After all, The Gasman had just started as a lineback on his middle school football team and Angel was happily content in the mass amount of books given to her by Dr. Martinez.

They were happy, so why ruin it?

Then, everything just kind of fell apart.

Max and Fang got in a fight, which in itself wasn't odd. What was odd was the topic of the fight. Neither of them could remember what it was about if you'd ask them now, but somehow the details behind Angel and Gazzy's mother were leaked out.

Angel and Gazzy were in the next room over and had just finished cleaning up after Angel's party. They both stopped what they were doing and listened with horrified expressions and tears in their eyes.

They handled the situation differently. Gazzy rebelled for a while until it began to strain his relationship with the gang. Ultimately it was Nudge who whipped him into shape after lecture upon lecture on why he shouldn't be a jerk.

Angel just stopped feeling.

Max had been hopeful that the birth of Ella and Iggy's son, Skua, or her own daughter, Skye, would be enough to make Angel smile _or something_. As it was, she avoided the two youngsters all together. Eventually the two kids became horrified of her and her cold, expressionless face.

Nudge once suggested that Angel just needed to meet a nice boy. Max agreed and arranged for several blind dates. The boys all agreed that Angel was far more beautiful than other girls, but she was also frightening. Max counted it as a win though, because for five seconds of the experience Angel was annoyed and _at least that was something._

Despite Angel's big issue, she excelled in many areas and continued to make Max proud.

As a genius, she graduated from high school at twelve and gained her doctorate in Neuroscience at sixteen. She had read more books than Max could count and she had become a locally renown ballerina.

She couldn't do things like cook or clean, but Max didn't bother to teach her how to do either of those things because she somehow felt that Angel was beyond it. They had each other anyways. Or so Max thought.

It was almost Angel's birthday. As a child the gang threw her great parties. She showed no interest in them. Eventually, the day was became just like any other.

The heat from the first wave of summer had struck hard, leaving the entire family deciding to make it a swimming day. They all gathered in the backyard and jumped in their pool. Skua, who had been born with no wings, but gills, was the best swimmer of the bunch. He was in fact so good that Ella lied about his age so that he could compete against older kids on the swim team.

The brown winged Skye, who was girlier and more concerned about her hair than the heat, was furious when her obnoxious cousin pulled her into the water, "You're next dad!" Skua warned Iggy. His father shrugged his shoulders and took one step away from the ledge of the pool.

The blonde boy froze when he spotted his Aunt Angel coming towards them with a thin stack of papers in her hands. Skua let himself sink to the bottom of the pool so that he could avoid the awkwardness of having to face her.

Max opened her mouth to say something, but before she had the chance, Angel blurted out;

"I'm moving out."

Everyone grew quiet.

"What are you talking about?" Max laughed dryly, "We haven't discussed this at all!"

"It's not up for discussion." Angel retorted calmly.

Gazzy climbed out of the pool and approached his sister, "Maybe we should sit down and think on this, yeah?"

"It's already done. I'm leaving on June 3rd."

"June 3rd?! Angel, That's in five days!" Gazzy put his hands on his sister's slender shoulders, "Do you know h-how long it takes to find an apartment and a stable job? You need both of those things before you can move out!"

"You sound like Max." Angel looked to her feet before facing her brother once again, "I don't need you to be Max. I need you to be my brother and support me in the decisions I make."

The muscular man threw his arms in the air, "Fine, you know what? Fine! At least tell me where you're going-"

Neither of them had seen Mama Bear approach and were thrown off guard when Max came barreling in between them, "No, not fine. Angel, inside right now!" She grabbed the slightly shorter girl by the arm and practically drug her into the old farm house.

"What brought all of this on?" Max, who was still soaking wet, paced around the living room in a panic. Angel, who had thought to bring a towel, held it out to her mother-figure. Max ignored the offer, mostly because she didn't notice it but also because she was too proud, "Is it a boy? Because they're stupid!"

"No, there is no boy." Angel stood from her spot on the old red sofa and stopped Max by standing in front of her, "It's just... I'm going to be nineteen in two days. I'm ready to grow up and stand on my own two feet now."

"Angel, that's ridiculous." Max almost flinched when Angel draped the towel over her soggy shoulders, "You're still a kid. Trust me, you don't want to be an adult yet! It _sucks_!"

"I'm sure it does, but it's time."

"No!" Max roared, "This IS NOT up for discussion. This is my god damned house and you'll stay here and like it!"

Angel turned, placed her paper work on the TV stand, faced Max and while looking her square in the eye, said, "No."

"Excuse me?" The older snarled, "Do you want to say that again?"

"I said no." Angel felt something in her chest, something she hadn't felt in a long time; fear.

"I will lock you in your fucking room if I have to. You're not going anywhere unless we make a solid plan, find you a safe place to stay with accepting people- because, Angel, you're not ready to live on your own. You can't even cook for Christ's sake!"

"I can microwave." Angel persisted, "And I have made a plan. I'm moving out in five days and into the Sunnyside Apartment Complex. I'll be moving in with a Scottish immigrant named Valerie. She's OCD and compulsively cleans. Between the two of us, I'm sure we can make something to eat. Also, I've saved up money for years from recitals and odd jobs. I'll be able to get by for at least a month before I have to find a job."

"Angel..." Max's anger dissolved into sadness, "Why didn't you tell anyone that you were thinking about this."

"I did." Angel explained, "Fang. In turn, I help him."

Max's stomach flipped and just like that her fury had returned, "He _knew_?" Max whirled around, "Oh, I am going to give him a piece of my mind!"

Angel picked up her papers again and watched, "I'm sure you are." She muttered under her breath.

* * *

Fang had just returned from work when Max grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pinned him to the bed, "Whoa," Fang smirked, "Miss me much?"

"Don't even fucking joke right now." Max hissed.

"A...are we doing some sort of BDSM thing? Because that's hot and all, but I just got home from work-"

SLAP.

Fang's face stung as if he had just been stung by a swarm of tiny bees, "What was that for?" He tried to sit up, but Max wouldn't let him.

"You told Angel she could move out?!"

His face whitened, "She told you about that? Damn it, I told her to wait until I got home!"

"It's true then..." Max's grip loosened and she rolled off of her husband and onto the mattress, "Why... why would you do that? She can't be on her own. She needs us... needs _me_."

"First of all, it's got nothing to do with age. She's ready, whether we like it or not. Do you think I'm thrilled to see her go? I practically raised that kid and she wants to leave. That's hard. I hate it. But she's going to be okay. She's strong." He sat up and brushed Max's hair behind her ear, "That's all because of you."

Max groaned into a pillow, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Angel asked me not to... and also..." Fang swallowed down hard, "There's...something else."

Max bolted to an upright position, "Something else?" She seethed.

Fang nodded solemnly, "I was trying to find out more about it before I told you... Angel located my father."

The room grew silent, but before long, Max was squealing and hugging her love, "What's his name? What does he do? Is he a nice guy? Does he look like you? Ohh- does he have any other kids? Is he married-"

"Uh," Fang cleared his throat, "His name is Percy Nisi, he owns an Italian restaurant, he is actually decent, he two children including me and he's recently widowed- also..." Fang reached into his pant pocket and removed a photograph. In it were three people, a mother, a father and a daughter of roughly six. Max looked at the father and gapped. He was the spitting image of Fang, dark hair and all. Even the little girl looked like Fang as a child.

"That picture is old." Fang went on, "But yeah."

"Where is he? Can we see him?"

"Whoa now." Fang held up his hands defensively, "He does live nearby, but he doesn't know about me yet. I think I'm going to slowly ease into it, if at all."

"Fang!" Max smacked his chest, "Don't you think the man deserves to know he has a son? And a grandchild, no less! "

"I don't know..." Fang folded his arms over his chest and sighed, "What if he doesn't even want a son?"

"He probably never knew he had an option." Max pointed out.

"Well..."

"Fang..."

"I just-"

" _Fang_."

The two locked eyes, "Trust me, okay?" Max put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him, "I'm normally right."

"Something like that." Fang muttered, "Alright. Give me a few days to figure out what I'm going to say, alright?"

"I swear!" Max squealed.


	2. Chapter 2

Gazzy hadn't meant to stare, but he couldn't help himself. It was a beautiful sight- _she_ was a beautiful sight. Flawless mocha colored skin made glossy by the pool water, long and flowing black curls without a strand out of place. Even her eyes, brown as they may have been, glittered with a million different colors, just like diamonds. Gazzy always thought she could have been a model. Nudge would have been good at it too... but when Nudge returned home to her mother, Tasha, her dreams changed. She just wanted to be 'Monique' and take care of the woman she had waited so long to meet.

The blonde man sighed and leaned his chin on his hand, "What are you staring at?" Skua's head popped up out of the water and nearly made Gazzy shoot to his feet in surprise.

"Nothing!" Gazzy released a light laugh and rubbed the back of his head nervously.

Skua clamped his hand over his nose and gasped, "You let one rip right now? Gross, Uncle G!"

Gazzy blushed and realized that Nudge and Ella were looking to him and laughing. He folded his arms stubbornly over his chest and looked away, "Thanks a lot..." He muttered.

"Oh..." Skua moved his hands away from his face and looked over at the two women. Gazzy's crush on Nudge had been well known for years... by everyone BUT Nudge. Even the seven year old Skua was aware of that truth, "You know... I once heard that girls like flowers. Maybe get her some flowers."

Gazzy ruffled Skua's reddish-blonde hair and sighed, "It doesn't matter how many flowers I give her, bud."

The seven-year-old swatted away his favorite Uncle's hand and scowled, "What do you mean?"

"I'm just... not good enough." Gazzy slunk forward.

"But Uncle G, you're handsome and everything!" Skye joined in, "You have a square jaw and you're strong and muscular - you're like a blonde Super Man! You can even fly!"

Gazzy's neck reddened in embarrassment, "I don't know about that..."

"You can do it, Uncle G!" Skua punched the air and Skye clasped her hands together gleefully.

"Do what?" All three turned around and saw Nudge. The somewhat older woman was tying her hair back with a rubber band and smiling down at the kids.

"Gazzy's gonna-" Gazzy pushed Skua under the water and smiled sheepishly at Nudge.

Nudge sat beside Gazzy, who's heart leapt into his chest when their shoulders touched, "I was thinking... maybe you should take Angel out for her birthday. She gets along with you and Fang better than anyone else, but Fang is going into town with Max for something... I would take her myself, but I don't think she'd go for it."

"Gee, Nudge... I don't know. Angel is-"

Nudge put her hand over Gazzys', "Please, for me?" She begged.

Gazzy's entire face came to match the color of his neck as he bashfully scratched his chin, "I mean... I can do that."

Nudge squealed and kissed Gazzy's cheek, "You're such a doll! Thanks Gazzy... maybe take her to that restaurant in town or, OH! Maybe to an amusement park? Oh, but it would be too hot, wouldn't it? And she doesn't really like fun stuff like that... maybe a.."

Gazzy smiled as he listened to Nudge go on and on the way she so often did. It was adorable, he thought. He absent mindedly reached towards her and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Nudge froze and cleared her throat, "Right, so... what do you think?"

"Hm?"

"A club." She repeated, "There's a lot of people and she could analyze them like she likes to do. You could buy her virgin margaritas, which are DELICOUS by the way. She'll be able to get in because she'll be nineteen and you could even drink if you wanted to."

Gazzy had never been a heavy drinker, but he liked the idea of taking Angel out and, even more so, getting Nudge's approval.

* * *

"I'm scared." Fang admitted. His knuckles whitened as he clutched the steering wheel. His wife put her hand on his knee and smiled at him through the rear view mirror of the bulky Honda.

"I know." She sighed, "But you can do this. And I'm here for you." The two pulled out front of a fancy restaurant that was already packed with cars for the evening rush. Max released her hold on Fang and jumped out of the silver car.

"Let's do this." Fang breathed. He tried to swallow down hard and shake off the butterflies in his stomach, but his throat was dry and his mind was swarming with worst case scenarios. Even so, he brushed his fingers through his jelled black hair and brushed off his black dress shirt, "Alright." He sucked in one more breath and began towards the building.

"How many?" The host asked when they entered.

Fang noticed that all of the employees were Italian quickly. _'I guess I'm Italian'_ he thought.

"We're actually here to see Percy Nisi." Max interjected.

The host quirked an eyebrow and folded his arms over his chest, "Mr. Nisi is very busy."

"It's an emergency." Max insisted.

The host, who looked young and was most likely naive, looked at Fang and then over his shoulder and nodded quickly, "He's in the kitchen. It's in the back."

Max slipped him a ten dollar bill and wormed her way around waiters and impressive plant and statue displays before finally reaching the Kitchen with Fang in toe. She didn't even stop to catch her breath before bursting into the kitchen and immediately spotting the man from the photo; Percy Nisi.

"Questo ordine non è giusto." He told one of the cooks, who reluctantly took the plate back and set it aside.

"Um," Fang stepped in front of Max and walked towards Percy, who had not yet spotted him, "My name is Fang...I'm uh...how do I put this?"

Percy looked up at the somewhat taller man and eyed him, "Are you my new cook? Don't worry, this job is easy." The cook behind Nisi shook his head rapidly, "You'll be on soup-"

"I'm your son." Fang blurted. All the clacking and rushing of the kitchen came to a halt. All eyes landed on Fang, "I am..." His voice shook, "I'm not lying. This isn't some kind of ploy or anything. M-my mother was Emma Bazzoli- she died giving birth to me. You two dated in high school and you got her pregnant. You probably never noticed because she tried to avoid you after she found out. It probably seemed like she was just being a jerk or something."

Percy looked like he had just had the wind knocked out of him, "Emma's dead?" He wheezed.

"Yes."

"And you're her son?"

"Yes."

"My son?"

"Yes."

"W-Why didn't anyone ever tell me?"

Max jumped in and put her hand on Fang's shoulder, "Sir, you're going to want to sit down."

* * *

BONUS:

Skua's Story-

Seven years ago, they were married on the beach. Ella was pregnant and nearing delivery time and Iggy was beyond ecstatic about marrying the beautiful woman. Together on the beach, alone with Angel who was an online registered minister, they held hands and embraced as they were brought together by the ties of marriage. Angel noticed, as they embraced, a beautiful bird approach. She had never seen one herself, but she knew what type of bird it was, "Skua." She said softly.

Just as the bird began to nestle against Ella's leg, the very pregnant woman let out a cry, "The baby... the baby's coming!"

"What?!" Iggy shrieked, "But we're an hour away from the city!"

"Wait." Angel took hold of Ella and laid her back on one of the towels on the beach. She ran to the car for what supplies she had and remembered all the books on child birth she had read. Within an hour, a white haired baby boy was delivered and the twelve-year-old girl held him carefully in her arms while waiting for the seventeen-year-old to catch her breath. Iggy held Ella's hand tight just as the Skua approached and dropped a fish at their feet.

"What is that?" Iggy asked Angel.

"It's a Skua. He's trying to help us."

"Skua..." Ella breathed, "I like that." She took the baby in her arms and say upright, "No wings?" She smiled, happy that Iggy could not see her relief.

"Gills." Angel retorted.

It was almost as if Iggy looked towards Angel, "How can that be?"

"I'm...not sure." Angel admitted, "But it is what it is."

The baby cried and the bird flew away, "So he's a fish." Ella giggled, "We'll call him Skua."

Angel wanted to point out the fact that Skuas were birds, but let Ella have her moment instead. Iggy held his wife and his child and they laid on the beach for hours until the sun began to set and Angel ushered them back to the car.


	3. Chapter 3

Angel rested her elbows on the mahogany table as thumping music shook the floor and pulsed in her ears. Bright, flashing colors swirled around her and made it difficult to see anyone's face. Even if she could, she was sure they'd just be covered in sweat from the sticky, alcohol infused air. What the hell was Gazzy thinking? What sort of twenty-one year old took his baby sister to a place like this? Within five minutes of entering, "The Fun House" Angel witnessed two drug deals, watched three girls vomit, and four observed as four more start stripping and dancing on the bar.

"This place is great, huh?" Gazzy put a virgin strawberry daiquiri in front of Angel while taking a sip of his own beer, "So, uh, how about that bartender, huh? Looks shady."

"He's only working this job so that he can get through medical school. The reason he looks testy is because he got into an argument with a kid who was using a fake ID." Angel nibbled on the end of her neon green straw and studied the frosty glass. While she traced her fingers over the fog, Gazzy leaned back in his seat and sighed.

"Hey, ladies," A bulky, clean shaven man put his hands on the table and leaned towards angel, "What's up, sweetheart? You wanna dance with a real man tonight? How's about you ditch this pansy?"

"I can't." Angel took a swig of her drink, "That pansy is my brother."

"Wow, thanks sis." Gazzy sank deeper into his seat and rolled his eyes. It hadn't been the first time a guy had belittled him for Angel's attention and he was sure it wouldn't be the last.

"Aw, c'mon baby. Let me show you a good time."

Angel ran her finger around the rim of the glass until it began to tip. She scooted slightly away from the blow and watched silently as the pink drink drenched the man's pants. He hollered as if he had just been shot and leapt backwards, "My new Levis!" He cried, "Bitch, you better be able to pay for these!"

Angel looked to Gazzy, "Did you bring any money? I didn't."

"Uh..." Gazzy shifted his weight so that he could access his back pocket and retrieve his wallet, "I think I spent all my cash on the drinks, they were kind of expensive." The young man opened his wallet and pulled out a five and two ones, "Um, I don't have a lot-" Before he could offer what he had to the man, a hand came over his and pushed away the offer.

Gazzy looked up to see a woman push a pair of full cup head phones around her neck, " _Basta!_ Those jeans didn't even fit you properly. I'd say she did you a favor." The raven haired beauty put her hand on the man's chest and pushed him away from the table, "If you really want to save your jeans, just soak them in some warm water and then throw them in the wash. I've never known that stuff to stain anyways."

The man eyed the young woman before turning and immediately walking towards the washroom, "Wow." Gazzy put his money back in his wallet, "Thanks dude."

" _Figurati!"_ The girl waved her hand to dismiss the gratitude.

"That guy was scared of you." Angel sat the spilt glass upright, "You used to work security here?"

The woman looked thrown off for a moment, "Yeah, when I was a teenager. How'd you know?"

"I read minds."

"Oh, cool." Gazzy almost did a double take. Most of the time, people assumed that Angel was kidding and laughed it off. Those who didn't generally got freaked out. The fact that this woman was chill with the idea was surprising.

"Are you guys gonna stick around for a while?" She asked as she adjusted her headphones back over her ears.

"I don't know. Is there more to do here than just drink and dance?" Gazzy inquired.

The woman turned and started walking towards the dance floor, " _Si_ , _paisano_."

"Um, I'm sorry I actually don't speak...whatever it is you're speaking."

The woman stopped and jerked her head around, "Oh, no shit? I assumed you were Italian on account of the fact that your sister is fluent in it. My mistake." Without any further explanation, she made her way onto the dance floor.

"Wait up," Angel caught the woman by the arm, "Where are you going after this?"

"After this? Uh, home. Why?"

"I would like to," Angel's stomach flipped in a way that it had never before done, "Like to do an activity with you."

"An... activity?" The woman quirked an eyebrow, "Define 'Activity'."

Angel swallowed down hard, "I don't mean like... well... I-"

The woman cupped Angel's chin and smiled a dazzling smile at her, "I would love to go on a date with you, Angel."

Angel felt her eyes widen, a feeling that had been foreign to her for so long, "So... maybe bowling?"

"Bowling it is." The woman agreed. Angel felt her cheeks redden as the woman pressed her lips to the blonde's cheek.

The foreign thought entered Angel's mind without consent, yet it was more than welcome, _Mi chiamo Luca, a proposito._

"Mooom, tell Skye to let me have the remote!" Skua stomped into the kitchen and folded his arms with a huff, "She's been watching TV for a whole hour! It's my turn!"

"Did you get all your homework done?" Ella asked her son.

Skua's eyes darted around nervously, "I'm gonna."

"Well, okay, after you figure that out and get your homework done you can watch TV." Ella ruffled the kids hair and turned back to Nudge, "So this guy-"

"Oh, god, he's sooo cute Ella." Nudge buried her head in her hands and squealed, "He's like a greek god or something. Blonde hair, blue eyes, great tan and- oh god, his _arms_ , Ella! He can lift me over his head without even trying. He's always trying to play it cool, but I think he might like me back."

"Are you ever going to tell me the name of this lover boy?"

"Maybe. I need to figure out how far things are going to go first. Like, is it just a one night stand situation or is he a relationship guy? Ugh. I can hardly stand to wait and see."

Skua stood outside the kitchen with his breath trapped in his lungs until Skye slapped him on the arm and held out the remote. Rather than take it and defy his mother's wishes, as he normally did, he yanked Skye into his chest and shushed her, "Blue eyes, blonde hair, tan, nice arms... Uncle Gazzy has all of those things!"

Skye gasped, "We'd better tell him."

Skua inwardly cheered and ran towards his uncle's room. He had hidden himself away after spending all night bowling with Angel.

On their way down the hall, they passed a dark haired woman who was coming out of the bathroom. She was dressed in a long v-neck t-shirt and skinny jeans, but looked as though she had just woken up, "Hey kids, uh," She rubbed the back of her neck and adjusted the backpack straps on her shoulders, "If anyone asks, I was never here, okay?"

"Uh," Skua watched as she pulled open a window and leapt out of the second-floor of the house. She landed lightly on her feet, kind of like a cat, Skua noted, and then continued down the drive way and towards a motorcycle that neither of the kids had realized was there.

Both kids leapt into the air when Max closed the window behind them, "Who was that?" She asked.

"I-I" Skua's shoulders stiffened.

"We're really not sure." Skye explained, "She was just in the bathroom and then-"

"GAZZY!" Max practically kicked down Gazzy's bedroom door, only to find him half-dressed and surfing the web on his lap top.

"Hey, Max, what's up?" He didn't even looked phased by her barging in. The truth was, during his rebel years in high school it had become a common thing. Even though now he was a college kid who rarely got into trouble, he still expected it.

"About this tall," Max held her hand level to her own head, "Dark hair, olive skin, female. Sound familiar."

"Oh, you must mean that girl from yesterday. We went bowling and then she came back here."

"So what? She's your girlfriend?" Skye interrupted.

"Huh!?" Gazzy shot to his feet, "Not mine! Angel-"

"So let me get this straight. You take your sister to a club, spend all night with a girl, let her sneak out the window, and expect to pin the blame on Angel?!"

"Okay, yes, I did all of those things, but it's not like we did anything!"

"What's going on?" Ella and Nudge poked their heads into the rooms.

"Gazzy had a one-night stand with some girl." Max rubbed her temples.

"No, I-" Gazzy looked to Nudge, "I didn't. It's not true. It was Angel- She-"

"What's a one-night stand?" Skye asked.

Skua took the younger by the arm and led her out of the room, "I'll tell you when you're older."

 _Basta- Back off_

 _Figurati- Forget about it!_

 _Si_ , _paisano- Yeah, bro._

 _Mi chiamo Luca, a proposito- My name is Luca, by the way_


	4. Chapter 4

Gazzy didn't intend on laying in bed all day, it just kind of happened. For one, it was too hot to do anything outside except for swim and Skua claimed the pool that day. He could have gone to the beach, but that would have meant flying under the scorching hot sun and getting burnt to a crisp. Eventually, he just cranked up the air conditioning and flung himself onto the bed while wearing nothing but Superman boxers.

He kept thinking back to the scenario with Max earlier. She was so sure that he had done something with the woman that she wasn't willing to listen to reason. Gazzy tried to explain that she was Angel's friend and that he had nothing to do with her being in the house. He was sure Angel was just having a sleep over or something- girls did that kind of stuff, right?

What drove him crazy was the fact that Nudge believed Max. Worse- she _encouraged_ Gazzy by saying it was 'normal' and that he was 'old enough'. Both things were true, but Nudge was missing one very key point. He was in love with _her_ and he wasn't willing to waste that on some chick he met at a club. Gazzy sat upright and looked across from him into a full length mirror that hung, cracked, inside of his opened closet.

He studied himself for a second. He had never before worried about his appearance, but he wondered if he should. His hair would get kind of curly if he let it get to long, so he tried to fade it up and comb the long hair on the top of his head back. It was a pretty shade of gold, unless he went a few days without showering, in which case it took a rosy tinge.

He was tan, too. Girls liked tan, right? Nice hair and tan, so Gazzy scored himself twenty points out of a possible twenty.

He also had what Nudge described as 'washboard' abs. Fang had a nice six pack, but Gazzy let himself be cocky about the fact that he had an eight pack accompanied by thick and muscular arms and legs. He added another twenty points to his score sheet, leaving him at forty out of forty.

As for his eyes, well, they were blue and his eyelashes were long and dark, but they weren't glittery or special. He awarded himself five out of ten points. He gave himself fifty additional points when he remembered the size of his penis, which left him with a whooping ninety-five out of one-hundred.

He was almost a perfect score. Any woman would want him.

So why didn't she?"

Gazzy pulled on a pair of jeans and scurried down the step to find- and hopefully confront Nudge. He thought about what he was going to say while he walked. What could he say? Oh god, what if she judged him, or made fun of him or- What if she just didn't say anything? Nudge never said anything. That would be awful, Gazzy decided. He would have to phrase his feelings in a way that she would be likely to respond to.

 _Nudge, we've been like family forever and but I've never thought of you that way-_ No, that would be untrue. He had thought of her as family, just not like a sister or anything gross like that.

 _Nudge, you're hot, I'm hot, let's be hot together_ True, but not a good enough reason for Nudge to drop what she was doing and fly into the sun set with him. He needed to say something spectacular that would sweep her off of her feet.

"Nudge I-" Gazzy stopped when he entered the kitchen and stared at a skinny white hippie who was sitting on the barstool by the island counter, "Who're you?"

He studied the guy, long bleached blonde hair that was turning a dingy shade of brown and huge pores brought on by too much time in the sun (Maybe four points out of twenty?) and he didn't have any abs or anything. He kind of had a beer gut, but he was also skinny. Not hot.

Gazzy selflessly let him have ten out of forty points, and that was only because he had wicked tattoos up and down his arms. His eyes were pretty, kind of a shinny pebble gray. He let him have ten points for that. He didn't pretend to know the man's dick size and even though he was curious, he didn't ask. He let him score twenty-four out of fifty.

Not a good score.

"Who're you?" Gazzy asked the man.

"Oh, uh, I'm Micah. I live in town. I was gonna take your sister to the beach."

"You mean Angel?"

"Nah... Monique."

"Oh, _Nudge_." Gazzy clapped his hands together, "That sounds great, so, when are we leaving?"

Fang pulled open the refrigerator which caused Micah to jump into the air in surprise. He obviously wasn't used to Fang's sneaking around, whereas Gazzy had made an invisible shield around him pertaining to what could scare him, "What's going on?"

"We're all going to the beach." Gazzy told Fang.

"Oh cool. I'll get the kids and wake up Angel-" Fang paused, "Do you mind if I invite my sister? I feel like I should get to know her."

"Totally. The more the merrier!" The Gasman put a strong, threatening hand on Micah's shoulder, "So are we taking your car or what?"

"I can't believe you made Micah drive with Angel and the kids." Nudge buried her head in her hand as she pushed open the car door, "I've never been so embarrassed in all my life."

"What's the big deal. Your friend should learn to get along with your family. After all, a friend of yours is a friend of mine, or else he's no friend at all. Nothing. Just gone. Y'know?"

Fang quirked an eyebrow at Gazzy before lugging the cooler onto his back and making his way towards the sand. The shorter woman he had come to know as his sister followed in toe. She was a pretty girl who had been decorated with dark hair and green eyes at birth. She was muscular, which wasn't too surprising after Fang had learned about how she had competed in martial arts and gymnastics tournaments until a year ago after she broke her leg. She still took classes, but her national rankings had plummeted to far to revive.

"So, Luca," Fang brushed a strand of hair behind his ear and looked towards the ocean, "Where'd you get that tattoo done?"

Oddly enough, the most distracting thing about the girl was not her long raven colored curls, cat-like eyes or muscular body. Rather, it was the tribal tattoo sleeve that reached from her left wrist to her chest, shoulder and back.

"I knew a guy." The girl replied coolly, "Why? You want one?"

Fang could feel himself shudder at the thought, "No, I'm good. So, uh, are you in school right now?" He asked as the two began shuffling through the sand.

"Yeah. I just finished my second year in college."

Fang dropped the cooler on a cool spot of sand and sank down onto it, "I kind of wished I had gone to college, but first I was experimented on and then I was chased, and then I fell in love and had a kid- you know how the old story goes."

Luca chuckled and sat next to him, "Yeah, dad told me about that. Word to the wise, by the way, learn Italian. Family reunions will be such a pain if you don't know it. Skye should probably learn to."

"Man, so you already know all about me? I might seem dull now."

"A secret brother can never be uninteresting." Luca elbowed his knee and grinned, "I'm sure there's lots of stuff I don't know about you."

"I know this must all seem strange, but I really hope I can learn more about you. Maybe we can do stuff that real siblings do." He looked over to Angel and Gazzy who were, unbeknownst to them, plotting how to get Nudge away from Micah.

"Of course." Luca assured, "If you have any questions, just ask."

"Well, I have one... but I don't want to seem rude by asking."

"Don't worry about it."

"You have... puncture marks all over your right arm and scars from them under your tattoo. You're not some kind of drug addict, are you?"

"No, it's nothing like that." Luca assured him, "It's... kind of a long story. I'll tell you some other time."

Fang nodded in agreement, "One more question and then I'll leave you alone," Fang turned his body towards her, "What were you doing in our house yesterday?"

"I suppose I should explain that one." Luca cleared her throat, "Honestly, it was coincidence, but I ran into the two blondies at a club and we all just kind of hung out all night. I fell asleep while talking to Angel. I swear that's all that happened."

"You... talked to Angel?" Fang questioned, "My Angel?"

"Yeah. She's pretty interesting." Luca admitted.

Fang fell backwards onto the sand and let the sun rain over him for a moment, "Wow. Maybe you two will end up being really good friends."

Luca shrugged her shoulders, "Something like that."


End file.
